Hey everyone, I'm here with you today sharing a new layout featuring Bohemian Dreams by Cocoa Vanilla Studio for the theme of christmas. Yep, you read that right! A christmas layout using Bohemian Dreams. It can be done, and you will see what the team come up with on the blog documenting christmas with a non themed collection.

Here is my layout that I created:

The subject of my layout was our December visitors, our elves on the shelf; Chippy and Snowflake. I took a North Pole inspired colour palette of blues for this page and added in some die cut snowflakes to match. The cut file I used is one from Paige Evans available in the Silhouette Design Store. I printed the photos 1.1″ square in size to fit into the frames perfectly. I love that I was able to document multiple photos at once through using this file.

Here are some close up images of the page:

Thanks so very much for popping by my blog today. I hope you have found this post inspirational.

Hey everyone, I'm here today sharing a new layout with you as part of Children week on the Pink Paislee blog. I have a little boy and a girl so the new Wild Child collection is perfect for documenting those everyday moments of my kiddies. I couldn’t resist pulling out the boy themed papers and embellishments from this collection and documenting some snippets of my little man’s life right now.

Here is the layout that I created:

Here is a process video of how the layout came together:

I chose a recent photo of my son to use on this layout. The photo is printed in black and white and is slightly smaller than a 4×6″ in size. I matted it on paper from the 6×6 paper pad and layered multiple die cuts from the boy ephemera pack to the left side of the photo. I also added the ‘hey dude’ sticker from the Thickers pack, the ‘one in a 1,000,000’ sticker which acts as my title, and the date stamped of when I did my journaling.

The main focal point of my layout was the cut file speech bubbles downloaded from the Silhouette Design store here. I adapted the files slightly to suit my design idea I had in my mind as I wanted the files to look like they were thought/speech bubbles coming out the top of my son’s head. On each bubble I added some journaling and some, depending on their placement on the page, were embellished too.

I added some of the rockets to the page to add an element of fun to the page. The pop art bubbles like the ‘zoom zoom’ were also a fun addition and complemented the speech bubble design.

The ephemera pack is jam packed full of so many perfect pieces to add to projects. I layered this ‘adventure’ die cut to the top right of the page using foam adhesive. I added finishing touches to the clusters of embellishments by adding some stars from the rub on pack. They were just the right size to scatter amongst the page.

For the journaling on this page I used my typewriter and cut it into strip form. I loved the freedom this gave me as it allowed me to manipulate the strips to fit within the bubbles.

How perfect is that ‘one in a million’ speech bubble from the accent stickers pack? I could not resist using that as my title as yep, there is no one quite like my boy. He certainly likes to keep me on my toes.

The whole cut file layer is adhered to another piece of cardstock with a foam adhesive to add a dimensional look to the overall layout. I love the shadows that this adds around the speech bubbles.

Hey everyone, I'm here with you today sharing a new layout as part of ‘Pink or Blue?’ week on the Cocoa Vanilla Studio blog. You will never believe what colour I chose to feature on my page today!………………….. blue! Yep, I decided to go against my natural lean towards all things girly and create a blue layout featuring my little man. For this layout I chose to feature the blue toned papers and embellishments from both the new Bohemian Dreams collection and the You Rock collection too.

Here is the layout that I created:

I am documenting my little mans love of jigsaw puzzles on this one. He loves puzzles and he does them amazingly quick….sometimes I can be doing a puzzle with him and he places pieces together before I have even grasped what the piece was of.

Here are some close ups of the page:

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today, I have to ask, are you team pink or blue? Or are you on the fence with this one?

Hey everyone, it’s Raquel here sharing a project using the Turn the Page collection and teaming it with a cut file which is designed by Paige Evans in the Silhouette online store found here.

Here is the layout that I created:

Here is a process of how this layout came together:

The subject of my layout is my two kiddies. As you can see by the photo, it’s not a picture perfect shot. My daughter is looking all innocent and beautiful posing for the camera while trying to wrestle her little brother to look at the camera. Some might say slightly strangling him lol, in a loving way of course! On this page I wanted to document that getting a picture of these two is not always sunshine and roses, that most of the time the situation is like the photo here and the ‘good’ shots may be the one of 50 photos I took at that time.

The title is made up of the hello in the cut file and the ‘real life’ is the stickers from the new Paige Evans sticker book. I used my curved American Crafts Thickers alignment guide to help me get the perfect curved title under the cut file. I was happy with how easy that was to achieve with the help of the guide.

To frame my photo I decided to use the ‘hello’ cut file by cutting it on Paper 22. I love that through that patterned paper I was able to bring in so many colours. I actually cut the design onto white cardstock first and then offset the design to cut on the pattern so it gave the white cut file a border. It is a fun way to help your cut files really stand out. My photo is nestled within the circle so it acts like a frame around it. I decided to back the photo on the same patterned paper that I cut the cut file on, but chose the more softer colours.

To embellish the layout, I created clusters on either side of the photo. To do this I used one of the die cut ephemera floral pieces. I was excited to find the new Paige Evans sticker book which is jam packed with 30 pages of stickers contained a sticker of the same floral ephemera piece so I used that on the other side.

I added a cute heart and tag to some of the negative space on the bottom right corner of the photo. The ‘love this’ tag was from the Journaling Spots pack and a bit of a tongue in cheek comment for the photo.

I had a lot of story to tell on this page and decided to keep it as a somewhat central design and run the journaling down the centre of the page underneath the photo. I did what I always do and typed the journaling on my typewriter and cut it out in strip form. Typing my journaling on a separate paper and cutting it into strips gives me the flexibility to change the position of the journaling if I am not happy with where I intended to place it.

I couldn’t go past Paper 17 to border the whole layout, the red pattern really makes the layout pop. I also added some machine stitching for detail. A layout doesn’t quite feel complete without adding stitching to it.

Hey everyone, it’s Raquel here today with you sharing a new layout with you that I created for Leaves Week using the Turn the Page collection. For this layout I decided to document a photo taken at a fun park about 45 minutes from our home which was taken on a lovely Autumn day. I brought the leaves into my layout through cut files available in the Cut Shoppe and Just Nick online stores.

On this particular day that I am documenting, it was actually my birthday, we decided to head to a park a little way from our home as we heard it was great for the kids. The park was full of water play type equipment and the kids had a ball putting a leaf at the top of the slide, and watching the water deliver it along the equipment until it reached the bottom. We haven’t been to this park since but now we are nearing summer here in Australia, it would be the perfect weather for it.

Here is the layout I have created:

Here is a process for how the layout came together:

I couldn’t go past the new designer line by Paige Evans for Pink Paislee on this one. The colour palette was just perfect for capturing the autumnal feel and leaves designs that I was incorporating. The main focal point of the layout is the cut file which I brought from the Just Nick store. I used this to incorporate my photo as well as the layout title ‘It’s the little Things’ and then also multiple complimentary patterns from the patterned papers.

The title of the page, ‘It’s the little things’ was created by using one of the phrase sheets in the 2×2″ swatch books. It was the perfect title to the story and fit beautifully within one of the cut file circles.

I embellished the layout by using die cut leaves from scrap papers I had in the collection and also the 6×6 paper pad. I love the paper pad patterns and some parts of the patterns have a copper foil on them which is just gorgeous and can be seen in the floral pattern on the leaves.

I loved Paper 14 in the Turn the Page collection and have been wanting to use it on a layout since I first saw it. I decided to frame the bottom of the layout using a strip of it and used the curved edge to add an extra detail to the bottom of the page.

I chose to border the whole layout using Paper 23. I loved the mustard tone and for me it was a way to bring in a touch of autumn. I added some machine stitching around the edge for added detail.

The finishing touches were added using small floral puffy stickers and leaves cut from Paper 9. I also added typewritten journaling in strip form, which is one of my go-to techniques to the bottom right of the page. This helped balance the heaviness of the top part of the layout.

I hope you have inspired by today’s layout, thanks so much for stopping by

Hey everyone, today I am sharing with you a quick photo tutorial on how to make a cute and fun magnet featuring a favourite photo and the new and exclusive Sizzix Lifestyle dies coming to Spotlight Stores here in Aus really soon.

I have used a few die sets in this one, here it is:

Cut the shapes using four different patterned papers. I used the Bohemian Dream collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio. I also chose to use my new fave the magnetic plate to help hold the thinlits dies in place when cutting.

Here is what I cut out:

Once cut out I added one of my fave 2x2" photos behind the frame and layered the pieces ontop of each other. I also added a couple of ephemera pieces from the coordinating CVS pack.

To make the frame magnetic I simply added a small trip of magnetic tape that I had in my adhesives stash.

And voila - all done!

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy tutorial today! Don't forget to keep an eye out in your local Spotlight Stores for the new dies and the awesome Foldaway machine.

Hey everyone, it’s Raquel here with you today sharing two cards featuring the new and ah-mazing Wild Child collection! I don’t know about you but I will admit I squealed with delight when I saw this new collection. Not only are the icons super cute, but it has both feminine and masculine sets of embellishments, stickers, and papers; it’s like getting two collections in one. Having a little boy, masculine collections that suit young boys is hard to come by. So yep, this collection ticks all the boxes for me and I was so excited to get playing and creating.

Here are the cards I created to share with you today. I decided to create both a feminine and a masculine card to show you using the same overall design idea.

Here is the process for how the cards came together:For the first card I have used the more feminine embellishments and papers in the collection. I love the fun and playful nature of Wild Child and decided to embrace that when creating these cards. I love creating a set of cards that look like they are made as a set. When creating the cards this means that what I do to one card I try and replicate on the other card.

For both cards I began by cutting the striped Paper 04 for this card, and cutting it to fit the card base. I then added a layer of Paper 02. The main element of the card is the ‘rainbow chaser’ speech bubble which was actually cut from Paper 02 as well. That paper has all these bold, amazing statements that would be perfect to fussy cut and use as titles on your projects.

I used a lot of foam adhesive when layering together the pieces I’d assembled from this card. I actually made a tag from Paper 01 too. Of course the unicorn was the perfect finishing touch, I wanted the speech bubble to look like it was the unicorn saying it. I also added a typewritten ‘Happy Birthday’ to give the card some meaning for how it may be given.

For the second card I have used the more masculine/boy themed papers and embellishments. Again I have embraced the fun playful theme of the collection and tried to create a bright and fun card to match.

I used the stripe Paper 12 this time for the base as it was blue in colour. The lime green in Paper 10 was the perfect accompanying piece. I also cut the card title ‘superdude from the Paper 10 as well.

Again I added a handmade tag this time from Paper 07 and embellishments including ephemera and stickers around that speech bubble. How cute is the lil dog?!? These cards were honestly so much fun putting together!

Of course a card isn’t complete without an envelope! This was achievable and super quick to make thanks to my excess card stock stash and my We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board. I had envelopes in minutes that coordinated beautifully and fit the cards perfectly.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. I hope I have been able to show you how easy it is to create cards using the new Wild Child collection.

Just in case you missed the reveal of the collection you can see it here or I have created an unboxing on my YouTube channel which you can see below. Amazing isn’t it?!?

Hey everyone, I'm here today sharing with you a new layout featuring the gorgeous ‘Bohemian Dream’ collection. This was my first layout with the new collection and wow! Bohemian Dream is so gorgeous isn’t it?!?

Here is the layout I created:

The subject of this layout is my little girl. This pic was taken right before she went to sleep on the night before her 5th birthday. 5! Yep my baby is 5. Seriously, how does it go so quick? Anyways, this was her last night being 4 so I wanted to document it. As soon as I printed it I knew I wanted to use it with this collection as I was was thinking along the lines of ‘sweet dreams my four year old’ or something of that nature. Since the collection has a lot of Dream catchers I made the link there. I printed the photo in black and white as the colours in her doona cover would have been too bold. The photo is printed at around a 3×4″ size.

It may be a little cliche’ but I had to make the main element of my page a dream catcher. It was screaming to be done with this collection and this photo and the story of my page was just perfect for it. I found a dream catcher image online and traced it with my silhouette software. I only wanted the top portion of the catcher as I knew I wanted to create the feathers using the ephemera pack and some stitching.

I love the 6×6 pads. The prints are smaller in design and just perfect for backing cut files with. I have backed a portion of the top of the dream catcher paper with the 6×6″ size of the ‘Wild n Free’ paper. The inclusion of the blue added a nice soft touch to the page as I felt the purple, navy and even the pink were a lot more bold. I also matted my photo with the paper pad on the spot design paper.

This collection has the most beautiful floral designs, dare I say my fave from all the collections, so I had to add some clusters of them on either side of the photo and dream catcher. I added a little foam adhesive to some of the elements to create that shadow and dimension.

For the bottom of the dream catcher I decided to use the three feathers that can be found in the ephemera pack. I wanted it to look like they were hanging off the dreamcatcher, like they do on a real life one, so I replicated the string with stitching and the beading you can find on them with enamel dots.

As always I felt I needed to add my journaling to tell the story of this page. Although the design was somewhat central I felt the design needed a little balance due to the heaviness of the photo so that is why I have placed the journaling where I have.

I hope this page has inspire you today. This would be such a fun page to replicate at home. If you have any questions about it at all don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below or send me a message via social media.

Oh also, if you haven’t checked out the Bohemian Dream collection in detail you can see it in my unboxing video below

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DISCLAIMER

This Blog is my personal Blog, and I use it to share projects, layouts and ideas created by me, Raquel Bowman. The opinions expressed on my Blog are my own. You are not allowed to copy, use or reproduce them without my written permission.